Literary arts, including poetry, creative writing, fiction, and non-fiction
Pittsburgh Creative Corps Artist Directory
Holly Hilliard
Primary Discipline
Artistic Practice
Writing
“City Birds,” nature essay published as an op-ed in the San Diego Union-Tribune, 2023. Click on Red Tailed Hawk photo by Holly Hilliard to read the full essay.
Excerpt from “Zugunruhe,” short story published in Wisconsin People & Ideas, 2024. Click on text to read the full story.
“One Small Step,” YA short story published by One Teen Story magazine, 2014. Click on cover image to read excerpt.
Excerpt from “Radio Silence,” short story published by Reckon Review, 2024. Click on text to read the full story.
“How to Please a Badger,” nature essay published to Substack, 2023. Click on American Kestrel photo by Holly Hilliard to read the full essay.
About the Artist
Holly Hilliard is a creative writer, educator, and birder from Appalachian Ohio who tells stories about the push and pull of place. Her literary short stories, nature essays, and Young Adult fiction explore the many ways our physical environment affects our beliefs about identity and belonging. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from North Carolina State University, where she was the winner of the 2018 James Hurst Prize for Fiction.
Holly began her career in the publishing industry and has since worked in the tech and nonprofit sectors, writing and editing a wide range of content from Standard Operating Procedures to novels. She currently works as a grant writer for an arts nonprofit and teaches creative writing classes for adults.
Holly is an avid amateur birder and finds inspiration from Pittsburgh’s natural spaces. Before she moved to PA, she collaborated with the Madison chapter of the Feminist Bird Club to create maps and local birding guides for the community. Read her free bird-themed newsletter on Substack: hollyhilliard.substack.com.
Photo by Michael Asher
Web
Accreditations, Certifications, and/or Awards
- How I Fell for Birds essay contest winner – hosted by MOXIE Theater in San Diego, CA, 2023;
- Finalist in the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters’ Fiction Contest, 2023;
- Winner of the James Hurst Prize for Fiction, 2018;
- Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing, North Carolina State University, 2019;
- Bachelor of Arts in English, Duke University with Highest Distinction in Creative Writing, 2013
Provides Fabrication Services to Other Artists
No
Teaching Artist
Yes, ages 18 and up
Joined the Directory
May 2025
Related
PROJECT
Pittsburgh Creative Corps
Designed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Pittsburgh Creative Corps initiative engages artists and creative workers to activate the public realm while providing economic opportunity.
“Storytelling isn’t a solo pursuit, but an act of community placemaking.”
Holly Hilliard
Contact the Artist
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Related
PROJECT
Pittsburgh Creative Corps
Designed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Pittsburgh Creative Corps initiative engages artists and creative workers to activate the public realm while providing economic opportunity.
